Category Archives: Single European Sky

The Commission has recently published a draft text for a new combined performance and charging regulation that will govern the SES Performance Scheme. It is anticipated that this regulation will be in place for RP3, that commences at the beginning of 2020. ETF together with the other staff associations, ATCEUC, IFATCA, IFASEA and IFAIMA have for the last year been inputting into various consultation forums as well as holding bilateral meetings with the European Commission to present the staff view and influence the drafting of the regulation.
On 29th May the Commission held a consultation workshop with Canso, Airspace users and Staff Associations together with members of the Single Sky Committee to gain initial feedback. This was supported with a presentation from the three stakeholder groups. The letter below summarises our main issues with the draft text, and these have been sent to the Commission and member state representatives.
The Commission took away much feedback from the meeting, and we will await the outcome of the Single Sky Committee meeting, and it is likely that a revised draft text will be produced in due course.

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The Expert Group on the Human Dimension (EGHD) has been asked by the European Commission for a position paper on the future of the Performance and Charging scheme regulations. These regulations govern the performance scheme which regulates ATM providers on Safety, Cost, Capacity, and the Environment. The regulations are currently being revised and amended by the European Commission in advance of RP3 which starts on 1st Jan 2020. Over the last months and as briefed at our last meeting in Madrid this paper has been the topic of some discussion, but we have reached consensus and the final paper is published below. The EGHD is made up of the ATM Social Partners (ETF, ATCEUC and CANSO) and the staff professional organisations (IFATCA, IFATSEA and IFAIMA).

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As part of the consultation on the performance scheme for RP3 that the Commission is currently undertaking, a study and workshop on ‘incentives’ was held recently. ETF, together with the other Professional Staff Organisations attended this workshop and have followed this up by submitting a joint written response. It is our firm view that incentives have no place in the performance scheme as these lead to short term and short sighted decisions, and distract from providing a responsible and effective long term service. We were pleased to work with our fellow staff representative organisations to provide a common staff view.

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Discussions around the third reference period for the performance scheme are ongoing. It is more than time for the decision makers to update the EU regulations in order to make it a balanced and shared vision between all the stakeholders. In this context ETF has produced a position paper, summarizing the staff concerns and proposals.

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As one of the key stakeholders in the Single European Sky (SES) process and representative of more than 25,000 Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) and Air Traffic Management (ATM) staff in Europe, the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) welcomes the general approach adopted by the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council meeting today. At the same time, ETF encourages the Council to defend its position throughout the whole legislative process. (more…)

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Today, Wednesday 12 March 2014, the European Parliament (EP) has voted on the Single European Sky recast regulation (SES2+). Despite the pressure put by the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), its affiliates and other stakeholders, the EP did not oppose the European Commission’s approach to dogmatically liberalise the ATM (air traffic management) industry and disregarded its safety-critical aspects. (more…)

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On 4 February 2014, after a long debate inside the Single Sky Committee and with a narrow majority the European Union-wide performance targets for the Air Traffic Management (ATM) network for the second reference period (2015-2019) have been approved. The agreement demonstrates that the economic interest of the airlines remains the only priority for the Commission, who keeps ignoring the negative effects on jobs in the ATM sector. (more…)

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Today, Thursday 30 January 2014, the ETF and its national affiliates from 11 countries organised strikes and other actions in the context of the 2nd European Action Day to demand the establishment of a fair, cooperative and social Single European Sky (SES). The ATCOs and the entire ATM staff called on the Transport Committee Members of the European Parliament to support their demands for a strong social dimension inside the SES. The TRAN Committee voted this morning on the so-called SES2+ package and ignored the concerns expressed by the ATCOs and all other involved employees. (more…)

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ETF organises its second European Action Day on 30 January 2014 to demand a social dimension inside the Single European Sky

The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) announced that Air Traffic Management (ATM) employees are mobilising for a new European Action Day on 30 January 2014 to demand the establishment of a fair, cooperative and social Single European Sky (SES). Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) and the entire ATM staff will hold parallel walkouts, rallies, meetings and strikes across Europe calling on the European Parliament to stop a never ending process of liberalisation and cost cutting in the ATM industry. (more…)